Ari and the Curse of Flight
by SpiderSpinner
Summary: Follow the adventure of Ari and her friends as they go on a quest to save camp half-blood.
1. Tricksters and Cyclopes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

Ari stood at the bus stop in a daze. All she ever did was work, how about a little play now and then. God seventh grade never got any easier. She shoved her glasses higher on her nose and scratched her head making her untamable brownish hair stick out in all directions.

"Hey, Ari," a black haired girl wearing a shirt that sported a Chinese character said with a crooked grin.

"Hi Elliot," Ari said, she made no move to smile, but instead looked straight ahead with a calculating stare.

"There you go again," Elliot said with a shake of her head.

"What?" Ari asked turning to face her mischievous friend.

"You're doing that thinking thing again," Elliot said. "You've got your eagle hair sticking out everywhere, and your huge gray eyes goggling out at something that doesn't even exist."

"What's wrong with that?" Ari said throwing daggers with her storm like eyes.

"Nothing, nothing."

The bus arrived.

They trudged on, Ari's boots made a muffled clunking sound on the steps.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Ms. Science experiment gone wrong, and her little twisted friend," a blond haired girl in the front seat sneered.

"What's your problem, Barbie, got your underwear in a knot?" Ari bounded back, she couldn't stand to be insulted.

Ari stormed down the aisle with books in hand. Her blank T-shirt and ripped up skinny jeans were splattered with paint, though her trademark combat boots were pristine.

Suddenly she went flying.

"Oops, sorry, had my leg in the aisle," said a gum-smacking girl in the 6th row.

Elliot made a-none too polite gesture in her general direction.

The two girls made it to the back row in one piece. They sat down next to a red haired boy in baggy clothes who held some crutches to help with his muscular deficiency.

"Hey Gabe," Ari and Elliot chorused in unison.

"L, R, how yah been?" the boy said squeezing his hat onto his head.

For the rest of the bus ride the trio conversed on everything from snow to nachos.

The one thing they didn't talk about was school; it was a sore subject for both Ari and Elliot. They had moved from school to school and back again. Even though Ari had next to perfect grades she always managed to screw something up… although no one dared to say it to her face.

With a squeal the school bus slammed on the brakes.

"Everyone off," said our bus driver Mitchell.

Mitchell was weird. Nobody really talked to him much because he always looked like he hated the world around him. In Ari's opinion he also had an off-putting facial structure. If one thing was for sure it was that he was huge. Seriously, he looked more like a professional wrestler than a bus driver.

The bus was empty except for Mitchell, Elliot, Gabe, and Ari. The group of friends walked forward until suddenly a thick muscular arm stuck out and blocked their path.

"Umm… Mitchell?" Elliot said.

He turned his dark black eyes on them.

No not eyes… _eye_.

"You shall not pass," the Cyclopes said.

Gabe tapped Ari on the shoulder, "If we can get out of here than we should be okay… the problem is getting out."

Then Ari pulled out something that had gotten her kicked out of her last school: a 12 inch celestial bronze knife.

It was a birthday present… from her _mother_. Ari had never met her mother and this was her only real connection with her. A stupid knife, but, hey, it seemed to have come in handy.

Elliot and Mitchell - or the Cyclopes monster thing or whatever the heck he was - were chatting up a storm.

"I haven't had fresh half bloods in quite a while… after the war." The Cyclopes said in a grave voice all the while licking his lips.

"Well then go to a freaking Taco Barn you creepy, one eyed, bus driver," Elliot said. Trust her to make a joke out of the creepiest thing that had ever happened.

Ari stared at the monster; everyone said that her huge stormy eyes framed beneath black glasses were unsettling at best and downright scary at worst.

She ran a quick assessment of its strength.

Elliot was still taunting away, "Whoa, mister two words-' breath mints'!"

And in that moment quite a few things happened:

1. The monster swung a beefy fist at Elliot.

2. Elliot ducked and gave a very un-Elliot like scream

3. Gabe whimpered and began to bite his nails

4. Ari jumped off a bus seat, knife in hand, and grappled for a hold on the Cyclopes' shoulders.

Thankfully the monster was not very smart.

It swung its fists at the swift and light Elliot, gripped the back of her shirt, and began to raise its prey to its mouth.

At the thought of imminent dinner it forgot all about Ari. That is until she stuck 12 inches of celestial bronze through its eye. Although it really wasn't remembering_ anything_ at that point. It dropped Elliot and slowly disintegrated to dust. At that point Ari fell from the Cyclopes shoulders and landed on her feet, knife intact, looking frazzled.

Then Elliot said the weirdest thing possible. "I'm hungry."

Gabe pulled out some cash and sighed, "I'll call a cab."

**Hope you liked it! More to come!**


	2. Centaurs and Demigods

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson… but I do own Ari**

The cab was strangely quiet, Except for the loud music blasting from the cab drivers headphones.

Elliot was in shock, I suppose you really couldn't blame her could you. She just sat there being well, noticeably silent. Ari on the other hand was staring into the distance her stormy eyes wide open, her hair defying gravity.

Gabe tried his best to break the silence "So any questions?"

"The monsters I see, their real aren't they?"Ari really didn't seem to be asking Gabe in particular; instead she held eye contact with a stoplight.

Gabe looked over his shoulder at the oblivious cab driver who was bobbing her head to the beat of Rebecca White's "Saturday".

"Listen, Ari, Elliot, that Cyclopes was as real as you and me and there are more out there like him." Gabe explained, "You guys have heard of Greek myths, right?"

"You mean Zeus, the Hydra, and Achilles, all that stuff?"

"Yeah, except, you can't say that, names have power, okay." Gabe looked over his shoulder nervously.

"Go on" said Elliot skeptically, she had shook off the shock of recent events.

"Well, all those Greek myths, well, um… their real."Gabe flinched a little as if he expected the girls to scream.

Ari looked as if this didn't even faze her. Elliot on the other hand was aghast.

"So what does this have to do with us? Why does nobody else see the monsters?" Ari blurted out these questions and faced Gabe, ready to drill out the information if she had to.

"Okay, Ari, Elliot, The Greek gods sometimes come down to earth and have kids with mortals, and those kids are…"

Ari cut him off "Half bloods, half mortal, and half Greek god. So are, so are we… so are we um, half bloods."

"To the best of my knowledge you both are, but me, I'm a satyr." Gabe said.

Elliot began "What's a…"

"Half man, half goat" Gabe and Ari butted into her sentence in unison.

The cityscape changed to countryside and then to beach and back again, they were passing a seemingly featureless hill when Gabe suddenly said "Let us out here."

"Whatever" said the cab driver with a flip of her hair.

Ari, Gabe, and Elliot climbed out of the cab.

"Welcome to camp half blood," Gabe said "One of the only safe places for godlings."

"Holy cheese, is that a dragon!" Elliot exclaimed as she focused on the huge teal dragon.

Then her 5 second attention span switched to something else "OMG it's a, um a, century thing, oh yeah, a _Centaur. _Look it Ari, it's a freaking centaur."

Sure enough a centaur was making his way up the hill towards us.

"Gabriel, I see you have found two half bloods, have they been claimed?"The centaur said.

Elliot's jaw looked like it was going to fall off her face.

"No Chiron sir, they haven't been claimed. I have something to attend to, would you mind finding someone else to give them a tour?"And with that Gabe rushed off to a wooded area.

The centaur turned to us "I am Chiron and this is camp half blood. Here you will train with other half blood heroes."

At this Elliot recovered her jaw and said "Wait train for what?"

Chiron looked reluctant to answer.

"To fight monsters."A boy with black hair had stepped up beside Chiron closely followed by a blonde girl with some resemblance to Ari.

"I'm Percy Jackson" The black haired boy said with a smile, "I'm camp counselor of the Poseidon cabin."

"I'm Annabeth, I know how weird and crazy this must seem, but all of us here get it and if you ever need help you can find me at the Athena cabin." The blonde girl then turned to Chiron, "Percy and I can give them a tour."

So, Ari and Elliot followed Annabeth and Percy down the hill and into uncharted territory.

They passed a large blue house which Percy explained was called "The Big House."Next to it was a large field of strawberries and a basket ball court were a battle scared teen was playing one on one with a satyr.

They then passed a large group of varied cabins "These are our sleeping facilities, once your mother or father claims you, you will be put into the house that corresponds with that god or goddess. Make sense?"Annabeth said.

They saw more than they thought possible, an archery range, a sword fighting arena, a dinning pavilion with a huge crack in the floor that Ari pointed out in that uncanny way she always had of asking questions about things people didn't want to answer.

They saw a huge spider being forced into a cage, a stable with winged horses in it, a rock wall with lava pouring down the sides, and last but definitely not least a scrawny kid with a golden bow being pantsed by a burly girl who was cursing at him in rhyme.

"Okay, we've reached the end of our tour, go to the dining pavilion, you can sit were ever you like, you'll be claimed at the end of dinner along with some other newly found half bloods." Annabeth then turned away and spoke to Percy. "I left something in my cabin, see you at dinner."

Ari got separated from Elliot when they reached the dining hall, she instead sat next to a boy who told her that they used to have to sit at different tables, divided by cabin, but since all the cabins for the minor gods sprang up the decided to just sit were ever.

As dinner ended Ari realized that she was attracting stares, she was used to this because of her hair but this was a little different.

Then Chiron called her name and Elliot's and some guy named Theo and another girl named Julia.

We walked up and assembled in a line and suddenly symbols appeared over their heads, a blacksmith's hammer over Theo's at which some people cried out "whoop, go Hephaestus." A bloodied sword appeared over Julia's head, the symbol of Ares. A pair of winged shoes began to flicker over Elliot's green head band.

A silver owl seemed like it was trying to nest in Ari's porcupine hair.

And then all hell broke loose.


	3. Athena and Hephaestus

**Disclaimer: I (sadly) do not own PJO, but I do own Ari ****:)****.**

A shriek rose from the crowd. Gabe put his head in his hands.

Most of the crowd seemed to have no idea what was happening, but collective bunches of blond haired, nerdy campers and nervous satyrs looked very antsy and scared.

Whispers rose in volume until the entire population of the room looked just a little freaked.

Chiron had to pound his hoof on the floors quite a few times before order was restored.

"Campfire sing-along has been cancelled" he said urgently "Go back to you cabins until otherwise notified."

A few campers groaned but most went quietly, a new sense of intense apprehension nestled in their stomachs.

Chiron leaned down "You too Ari."

Elliot gave Ari a shaky, but reassuring thumbs up and hurried off to the Hermes cabin shepherded by a tall camper.

Chiron started to trot off and Ari ran behind him.

"Wait!" Ari yelled.

She started jogging to keep up with the fast moving centaur.

As they reached the big house Ari lost it.

"I don't care who you are or what you're doing but if there is one thing I do care about its answers and you can bet that I have quite a few questions!" Ari's voice had slowly risen in volume.

Chiron looked disgruntled; Ari took a deep breath and regained her composure as if the outburst had never happened.

"Look Ari, I know this is a lot to take in right now, a monster attacking you, learning you're the child of a Greek god, and suddenly being whisked away off to a random place you've never heard of. Right now, you should go get some sleep, tomorrow evening I'll hold a meeting between our cabin counselors and we will try and answer your questions."

He closed the powder blue door behind him leaving Ari alone in the night; she sighed and made her way to the Athena cabin.

Ari opened a door on what seemed like heaven except for the fact that the sunny blond, wingless angels looked like they had just swallowed bile. Aside from this point everything was perfect, work stations and rows of scrolls and books lined the room the steel bunk beds lined the wall 2 deep, shoved to one side so there was more room for important things.

Annabeth folded the shoved a bookmark into a textbook and hoped off the top bunk of a bed, "Ari, welcome to the Athena cabin, you'll sleep over there", she pointed to a thin mattress a little farther down the wall, "I'll wake you up at 7:00 and then we'll get breakfast, which will be followed by classes, sound good?"

"Uhh… sure."

"Reza will help with your stuff and get you some study materials."

At the mention of her name a tall, high cheek boned girl with hair tucked into a messy bun that had all matter of writing utensils protruding from it, kind of like a small peacock appeared from behind a shelf.

She reached into a closet and pulled out a ratty brown blanket edged with silver embroidery and a standard issue pillow. She dumped these onto the sagging mattress to with Ari had been assigned.

She then seemingly at random pulled out several thick books from the shelves, and shoved them into Ari's arms in a way that caused Ari's glasses to dangle off one ear, so that when Ari tried to peek at the tittles they blurred into a soupy mess, a fact that was not helped by her dyslexia.

After overseeing the transfer of the books from Ari's grasp, to the bed, Reza led the way to a silver filing cabinet. It had been burnished to a glowing sheen; it seemed revered like a rare ancient Egyptian artifact, or a famous work of art.

For the first time Reza spoke; "This is where we store our laptops" she pulled out a thin silver notebook computer "You are responsible for #15, you can do whatever you wish with this, it is yours, but should you break or lose it you have to buy the replacement. Now go to sleep." She finished abruptly.

Then she turned and stalked off.

Ari put her computer gently on the night stand, she stretched out intending to read, and went out like a light.

"I'm sure it was nothing Ari, you're just obsessing" Elliot said, simultaneously shoving a sausage into her mouth.

"I. Am. Not. Obsessing." Ari said punctuating each word with a stab of her fork, "I'm telling you something's up."

"Yeah, sure, they got excited, but Travis and Connor explained that everyone gets excited about new half-bloods, it's probably something stupid. Anyway you'll learn more at the meeting."

"I gues…." Ari's eyes (if possible) got even wider as she stared at something behind Elliot, "Umm…hi."

Elliot looked behind her to see a lanky boy in work boots and a simple black tee, his black hair sat messily on his head, he was clutching his plate like a shield.

"I'm J, Hephaestus" he said in a smooth even voice.

"Elliot, Hermes"

"Ari, Athena" Ari said, she had kept her cool for her entire life, no guy was gonna make her screw up now.

"My older brother, Mason, sent me over here, ya know," he deepened his voice in an impression of Mason, a burly Hephaestus camper "Go see whats with the Athena kid J." He switched back. "So I'm here, but from your former conversation I expect you don't know much more than we do."

"Nope totally clueless," Elliot said, distractedly: Ari kept fidgeting.

"Well anyway, gotta run, nice to meet you guys anyway."

"I guess were not the only ones out of the loop" Elliot contemplated.

"Uh... Oh, What?"

"Ari what's up with you, you've been acting all... Oh." Elliot put on a knowing smile "Oh, I get it."

"Get what?" Ari snapped, "there's nothing to get."

"If ya say sooooo" she said in a sing-song voice.

"I gotta get to the rock wall, see ya," Ari said.

She cleaned her plate and stalked off.


	4. Life and Death

**I don't own Percy Jackson...**_**for now...**_**Mwahhahaha.**

By the time Ari ate dinner, she didn't think she was capable of thinking much less moving.

She had climbed up a rock wall, seems easy enough, right? Wrong. It's definitely not easy when there's lava pouring down it and hidden spikes on the handholds.

How about swordplay then, sounds fun, not when the Ares kids decide to play pin the tail on the weird kid. The sword felt clumsy in her hands, Annabeth said that she only needed to find the right weapon.

Ari, had always considered herself a pretty athletic kid, but it was gonna take more than that to get to the top.

Elliot and Ari scarfed down their food in silence.

They stopped, satisfied, Elliot broke the ice as usual.

"So, Ari, you going to that meeting right?"

"Yes" she replied shortly.

"Okay give me the low down when you get back. It's not really worth discussing since were not gonna get anywhere."

"I suppose... Ya, know Elle were not really kids anymore are we?" Ari said.

"What do ya mean?"

"I mean, well, It's hard to explain," Ari stumbled "but I feel like somethings gonna happen, and, well whatever all this is about, don't let it change anything alright."

Elliot was amazed, this was the first time Ari had ever seemed unsure of herself. In fact this was the first time Ari had ever expressed any need for her anyway.

"Of course, Ari, whatever you need" she said.

"Good, good."

She got up and cleared her plate. Elliot glanced up and saw her shadowy form receding in the distance.

When Ari walked into the big house the group of diverse people were already in the middle of a heated discussion.

"Annabeth, honestly, whats up!" a burly girl dressed in a camouflage pattern demanded, slamming a hand palm down on the table.

The black haired boy spoke next, what was his name? Percy. "Give her a break she and Chiron have her reasons."

"Yes, patience, Clarisse" Chiron had entered, without looking her way he called " Ari sit down."

The cabin heads gave the petite, spiky haired girl the once over, she returned their scrutinizing looks with a glare of her own.

Chiron broke the silence "Ah, so I'm sure you are all wanting to know why your here."

"Heck yes we do" replied two identical stocky boys simultaneously.

"Thank you for that interruption, Travis and Connor." Chiron said "We are called here today to discuss a prophecy brought to our attention by our oracle, Rachel, that concerns our latest Athena cabin member Ariana Shale. Rachel was able to record this prophecy and were going to play it first to it's recipient, Ari, and should she choose to do so she will play it for you."

I pretty girl with long brown hair tied in a loose brown braid put a hand on Ari's shoulder, she motioned for her to come with her. Ari stood and followed the girl down a carpeted hall and through a purple door.

The room was simple and pretty with modern light fixtures and a twin bed that featured a fluffy purple comforter, the girl moved to a laptop computer and began to type.

"My name's Rachel, I'm the oracle." she said flashing a sunny smile at Ari.

"Ari"

"Okay it's all downloaded and ready" she said, her smile evaporated and she turned grim, "Before I show you this, know that the wording is often mysterious, and it usually doesn't turn out the way you think it might."

"Okay, show me."

"One other thing" she said.

"What?" Ari was getting snappish; she hated not knowing.

"I'm sorry" and with that she hit play

The raspy voice sounded creepy and..._ancient _

"Four shall fly to the gods of wind

To bring an ancient rivalry to it's end

Hated by one god helped by another

A silly game played by the silly puppet master

A sacrifice shall be made though she does not matter least

To find their way north, south, west, and east

Trapped in wind she shall endure

Owl's red blood ruins snow pure.

And though she shall try with all her might

The owl cannot escape the curse of flight."

_Blood? Curse? Sacrifice? _Ari thought _that doesn't sound good._

"Do you need a moment?" Rachel looked worried "Or are you ready?"

_The Owl...oh my god. _Ari's thoughts sped up.

"Are you okay? You look pale."

_I'm going to die._

**Okay I know, short. Please review, flames if you must, anything helps.**


	5. Stare and Stop

**I don't own the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, but I wish I did.**

_I'm going to die. Not good._

"Okay kid, you alright" Rachel looked into my eyes a frown playing across her lips.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm, I'm okay" Ari said shakily, she reasserted herself "I'm fine, thank you."

She placed her hands on the fluffy bedspread and pushed herself up from mattress.

Rachel did her best to smile reassuringly but it looked awkward and forced. The duo proceeded through the hallway an uncomfortable silence thickened the air between them.

Rachel was disconcerted, she had just told this girl that she was basically going to die, but now she walked strait backed into the entrance hall as if the prophecy Rachel had just played for her foretold nothing but this weeks forecast.

Ari's mannerisms were more owl than human. Her swivel-head glares that left people speechless. An imposing stature that left no doubt in any one's mind who was predator and who was prey. The clipped tawny feathering of her messy dirty blond hair and her eyes, they scared people, she knew they did.

All of this ran through Ari's head as she walked into the meeting room, the identical twins she had seen before were arm-wrestling. A well tanned archer was arguing with a pleasant looking girl who was brandishing a tendril of some spiky vine at him, they looked close to screaming.

A hush fell over the room.

Chiron stood "Ari's prophecy tells of a quest that she and her trio shall embark on, a quest to stop the wind gods incessant fighting. This has of course been going on for years but has now reached a point were if one of the four gods doesn't claim his right as king, things will get ugly, but of course if one of them does claim to be king the others won't be happy."

Ari understood, it made sense. The other campers around the table made signs of recognition.

"Well why is everyone so freaked out then?" Travis said "People go on quests all the time."

Annabeth tapped her dagger on the table the same way many people tap a pencil, "Well, the thing is, well, the prophecy says that, it says... Ariprobablywon'tcomeback."

The silence was tangible.

Percy's eyes darted sympathetically towards Ari, he stood, "Prophecies can be wrong. Let's not give up on Ari just yet."

"Yeah well not everyone can go bathe in the river Styx" Clarisse growled.

Everyone in the room turned their head and gave her a vicious death glare.

"Well on that cheery note," Chiron chuckled nervously "Lets go to sing-along, shall we."

The Camp-Half-Blood rumor mill went about as quickly as Ari had expected; in other words it took about .5 seconds for every camper in attendance to know that Ari was going on a quest, and that she was condemned to death.

A very half-hearted sing-along ensued.

Ari noticed that some people took pains to avoid her gaze while others stared at her with varying degrees of sympathy and curiosity. Elliot was among the avoiders. Ari felt a pang of sadness and betrayal at shook her head to clear it. J the cute Hephaestus camper was staring at her.

_Wait, cute? No not cute. Just nice, Only nice._

And yet why did she feel compelled to look at him?

And why was he staring back?

She shook her head again, damn emotions.

Chiron began to talk."As many of you know, I am sure, Ariana, the newest Athena camper has been summoned to go on a quest to break apart the war of the wind, visiting each god in turn. It has come time for those who wish to accompany her to step forward."

Ari threw a glance at Elliot. As she walked up to the pavilion, no one spoke. All that could be heard was the muffled thumps of her boots as she clunked down the isle.

J stood up from his position in the back and jogged to catch up with her.

"Hello," Ari said, she rubbed sweaty palms on her jeans.

"Hi" his voice was slightly constricted but he made an effort to sound light hearted.

They had reached Chiron. A snobby looking girl from the Aphrodite cabin stood. Ari wanted to scream. The girl caught one glance of Ari's glare, smoothed her miniskirt and sat back down.

An arm slid around Ari's slim shoulders, she stiffened and looked to her right.

Elliot gave her a crooked smile, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Chiron stamped his hoof nervously, "Alright, Julian Levorski, Eleanor Traisimal, and Ariana Shale, we expect you to be packed and ready dawn tomorrow, the camp store should provide for your needs." If centaurs could look tired, he certainly did.

Ari marched down the isle, painfully aware of the stares that hammered down on her back, watching her walk towards the unknown: towards death.


End file.
